Mr Spock

For me, in heavily light polluted skies, a higher magnification is better. This is due to the sky being brighter at lower magnifications. From my experience with my 235mm, a 22mm giving x106 shows far more extension on objects than a 42mm giving x56. This is due to the background being darker. The 8.8mm you mention would give x85 and 0.96° field of view. That would easily fit the Pleiades and M42. Only M31 is bigger and you aren't going to fit that in anyway. I reckon that would be my choice.

Hi Ruzeen, welcome to SGL

A lesson to be learned about getting the proper permissions and having an acceptable build plan.

Looks like a dismantle job to me. All you need to do then is enlarge each of the three bolt holes on their left side so the whole lot can rotate enough to centre the azimuth adjuster.

I think this image looks very natural. I'm not a fan of over processing.

Go for the darkest sky. Positioned correctly most objects will head that way anyway.

Looks really good. Are you going to extend it over the whole lot?

Hi, welcome back. I’m sure the clouds and rain aren’t entirely your fault

Hi Mick, welcome to SGL

Waiting patiently for a 200mm... Or should that be 202mm

If the mount and/or pier is bolted down you could enlarge the holes to give some rotation.

Top quality image as always. You can see the shading in the image. Despite having decent kit I can't see this visually.

Hi John, welcome to SGL

Hi Ford, welcome to SGL

Hi Tim, welcome to SGL